Plan to double passport validity period prompts security questions

Jim Bronskill, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The federal government's decision to double passport lifespans to 10 years is raising questions about the security and cost of the new travel document scheme.

In Tuesday's budget, the government announced plans to usher in an electronic passport valid for twice the current period by 2011.

Groups including the NDP and the B.C. Chamber of Commerce have been pressing Ottawa to follow the lead of the United States and make the passport a 10-year document.

But the move counters advice from officials in the Passport Office's corporate services bureau.

A report completed by the bureau in November 2006 and made public last year said the natural cycle of redesign for secure documents was three to four years, suggesting 10 years would be too long.

"A shorter validity period allows for passports based on outdated technology or security and those reported to be lost or stolen, to be withdrawn from circulation more frequently, which contributes to the security and integrity of passports internationally."

It also enables passport authorities to take advantage of "constant improvement in off-the-shelf scanning, imaging and printing technology."

"A number of countries have five-year passports and the recent international trend is for countries to reduce the validity of their passport, rather than increasing it."

For example, New Zealand, Finland and Singapore had recently adopted a five-year validity period, the report noted.

It also warned that extending the lifespan of Canada's passport under the current funding model would not save money but rather see losses skyrocket to $106-million annually by 2012-13.

That's because revenues from passport renewals would drop sharply due to the fact people could hang on to their travel document longer. The costs of delivering and administering the passport service would not fall at the same rate.

"Passport Canada believes that a five-year validity period is much better for the Canadian passport," agency spokesman Fabien Lengelle said at the time.

No one from the passport office was available for comment Tuesday.

The government allotted $9 million in the budget for the passport initiative.

A plan to introduce a more high-tech document containing an electronic chip has been in the works for years.

"Our government is helping ensure Canada's passports reflect evolving international standards," Neil Hrab, communications director for Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, said in an e-mail message.

"The introduction of e-passports will significantly increase the security and integrity of the Canadian passport."

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says a Russian spy using the alias Paul William Hampel presented a phoney Ontario birth certificate to successfully obtain passports in 1995, 2000 and 2002.

Still, one expert said Tuesday that extending the passport's validity to 10 years should not spur worries about increased fraud.

"I don't see the duration of the passport issuance having an impact on the ability of bad people to counterfeit it," said former RCMP officer Chris Mathers, now a security consultant.

© The Canadian Press, 2008